To all our esteemed Partners and stakeholders,
After five marathon years hosting various editions of the Nairobi Summer School on Climate Justice (NSSCJ), we felt that it was time to pause a little, review, reflect and recalibrate. This will enable us to celebrate the achievements, look at the challenges and pick the lessons to build a more agile program that resonates with our alignment with the shifting geopolitical landscape, as it is espoused in our 2026 – 2030 Strategic Plan.
Thus, we wish to announce to you all that the 6th Edition of Nairobi Summer School on Climate Justice (NSSCJ-VI) will be held in 2027. And as part of the changes we have initiated, subsequent editions will be taking place biennially, shifting from the previous editions, which we have hosted every year since inception in 2021.
Five Years of Impact, Countless Success Stories
Since 2021, we defied Covid-19 to convene thousands of young people from across Africa and beyond, creating spaces where climate justice isn’t just discussed, it’s lived, breathed, and built together. We’ve witnessed extraordinary transformations: youth-led innovations taking root, cross-border collaborations flourishing, and a new generation of climate leaders stepping into their power with clarity and conviction.
2026: A Year of Deep Reflection, Learning, retooling our youth and Strategic Renewal
As the NSSCJ enters its sixth year, we find ourselves at a powerful inflexion point, one that calls us to reflect, learn and reimagine how best youth can create much more global impact on climate justice discourse in a multi-polar world.
In building the momentum for the 6th edition in 2027 and beyond, we will dedicate our energy to ensuring African youth, especially the Alumni of the Previous Cohorts, drive catalytic climate action commensurate with the global pushback on Climate Justice.
Our focus this year will be mobilising the consciousness of NSSCJ Alumni in the build-up to yet another strategic moment in Africa’s and global climate discourse process – COP 32 – which will be hosted by Ethiopia in 2027. We seek to consolidate the actualisation of aspirations of the 2nd Africa Climate Summit on young people of Africa, as espoused in the Addis Ababa declaration. As such, we have started preparations for an NSSCJ-VI, which will be hosted yet again in Addis Ababa in 2027 as a strategic youth build-up event of COP-32. All energies in 2026, therefore, will be geared towards capacity enhancement of the 2500 army of enthusiastic youth who have passed NSSCJ over the years, so as not to remain as passive participants in debates, but be part of the journey towards COP32 and beyond.
What does this mean in practice?
We will engage in extensive consultations with our NSSCJ alumni, partners, and emerging voices to appreciate progress made in their climate journeys. We want to better understand the experience of this community that has passed through NSSCJ as we align their competencies to the dynamic environment in which they are operating and address the emerging issues to unlock their potential to drive much more impact. We remain agile in positioning the youth to tap on emerging opportunities. A structured outreach process towards this end will be communicated as soon as consultations are concluded.
Our Retooling Approach
We are crafting a comprehensive retooling approach that enhances Alumni capacity to respond to and tap into opportunities in the emerging context. This approach ensures that when we gather again to scale up our leadership capacity to serve both the urgent work of climate action and the long-term development of our society, the transformation we all desire becomes a reality.
An Invitation to Shape Our Future
Stay connected as we build momentum for the NSSCJ-VI. Share your thoughts. Let’s elevate the collective influence of our movements to the next level. And prepare for 2027, as we reinvigorate climate justice with unprecedented clarity and collective power.
For consultation opportunities, partnership inquiries, or to share your story, contact us at [email protected]
